1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dyeing textile fabrics. In particular, the present invention relates to a kit for dyeing velvet-covered, untreated, or "greige" goods, under ambient conditions.
2. Discussion of Background
Dyeing of many kinds of fabrics is well known, including dyeing velvet materials. Velvet is a particular structure of fabric that is characterized by yarns woven to a backing and cut in a short, dense pile. The yarns may be made of synthetics or natural fibers. Velvets are made of rayon, nylon, dacron, dacron polyester, cotton, silk and blends of these.
Velvet is not difficult to dye but typical industrial processes involve dipping the material into hot baths under tightly controlled conditions to assure that the finished material has the desired shade of the selected color and the dye has set so that it will not run. Velvets made of synthetic blends are usually dyed black because the appearance of such velvets dyed other colors, especially lighter colors, is not particularly appealing and black hides the shortcomings of the dyeing process well.
An example of a method for dyeing velvet, including dyeing the velvet a color other than black, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,731 issued to Sasakura et at. Sasakura et al teach a one-step method for dyeing blends of cellulose and nitrogen-containing fibers such as nylon and silk using two different reactive dyes.
Undyed, untreated fabrics are referred to as greige goods, or "gray" goods. Greige fabrics may be dyed according to a number of industrial processes requiring special equipment, controls and elevated temperatures. Although there are dyes for home use, there are none designed to dye velvet-covered greige goods in a variety of colors.